


Tea and Apple pie

by assasinduckie



Series: No words needed [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Pining, Sad, wallowing in the pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:47:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assasinduckie/pseuds/assasinduckie
Summary: Roy visits the Elric's for tea. Their littlest one apparently has something to tell him.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Series: No words needed [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790185
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	Tea and Apple pie

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is part of an ongoing series where I attempt to fill in the blanks the canon left us of this two’s love story.  
> This particular story set's place about 11 or more years since the end of the anime/ manga, 9 or more from the epilogue. Specifically, he’s finally visiting them like he had promised in “Whirlwind of worry”.  
> Also, warning: this is sad.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

After like a year of rescheduling, finally, Roy was honouring the promise he had made to Winry and Ed to come have tea.

In his defense, he had begun attending all of the family birthday events since the year before, so he had seen them a few times already. But this was different than the parties where there were many people, this time it was just him with Ed and Winry and the kids, and Al, who had promised to stop by later. And the visit had gotten postponed for months until he finally gave up his first free Sunday in forever to go see them.

He made his way to the house by foot trying to figure out why he was feeling so apprehensive about this. He felt uncomfortable in his civilian clothes, even though he actually wore them relatively often and when he was getting close, he realised he hadn’t brought anything. He felt like he should have bought a cake or at least some biscuits, and almost decided to go back and cancel because of it but he stopped himself. He was behaving childishly.

So, he powered through and got to the door of the house. But before he could knock, the door opened and he saw a small smiling boy holding the handle, with a smaller girl hiding behind his leg.

“Was it him???” he heard Winry’s voice from the kitchen.

The boy was turning around to scream the answer when Ed stomped down the stairs, his automail leg making the noise of his steps even louder, especially since he was barefoot. He was wearing a red, short sleeved shirt, and black pants, his hair in a low ponytail.

He saw Mustang and smiled big. 

“Roy!! Come on in!!! Take off your jacket! Have the kids given you a kiss yet? C’mon kids! Say hi to Mr. Roy here! Winry! He’s here!”

Roy crouched down to be at the kid’s eye level and extended his hand to both of them, giving each one a firm handshake before saying “You don’t have to give me a kiss if you don’t want to.” The little girl smiled sheepishly before throwing her arms around Roy’s neck for a hug. The other one shouted “I want too!” before copying his sister’s action.

After everyone said hello to everyone, they sat at the kitchen table, in front of an appetizing looking apple pie. Roy was feeling a little shaken after the show of affection he had received at the door. He hadn’t expected such a warm welcome. Though it was true that he had deepen his relationship with the Elric’s kids, from like, non-existent to relatively close, it was still true he had only seen them 5 times in the last year at most. Maybe Hawkeye wasn’t exaggerating when she told him that the kids adored him and asked to see him often.

“Little Trisha here spent the last hour looking out the window waiting for you to arrive!” said Edward, confirming Mustang’s thoughts, and looking at his daughter like she was the brightest thing in the room.

“Oh, well, that explains why the door opened before I got a chance to knock. Thought maybe the house's just haunted” he said, while giving the little girl a spooky look. They all laughed when her response was going still and opening her eyes big.

“She’s been waiting all week for this! She said she has something that she wants to tell you, but she won’t say what it is.” said Winry looking a Mustang making a funny face that read “beware”. Roy wasn’t sure what to answer to that, he had no clue what the girl might want to talkt to him about, so he changed the subject

“That apple pie looks amazing!!!” and it did, he was beginning to salivate from the scent of it. It seemed like it was still warm.

“Oh, it’s Al favourite! He said he might come a little later, so we better save him a piece.” Said Ed happily.

“It’s Gracia’s recipe. I’ve been doing it for years now, but hers is always better” added Winry, with and edge of sadness in her voice.

“Oh, that’s not true!!” they heard the voice at the kitchen door. They all turned around to find Al at the entryway, wearing his signature matching tweed pants and vest, the white shirt underneath with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked like an old professor, except his face was young and he’s entire demeanour jovial and light.

“Yours is as amazing as Mrs Gracia” he added with a big smile.

Roy got up to shake his hand, but Al gave him a quick hug, before doing the same with the children that had already began screaming “Uncle Al!!” and running towards him, like they didn’t see him almost every day.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After tea and two slices of pie Roy was feeling quite full and having trouble sitting straight on the chair, the button on his pants threatening to pop if he moved a lot.

He felt a tug on his shirt. It was Trisha, who took his hand smiling and said

“Show you my room!”. And then dragged him to the living room and then the stairs, while Winry shouted from the kitchen

“Don’t take too long! We also want to spend time with the man!”

It seemed, at first, that the girl really just wanted to show him the room. She introduced him to all her toys, by name, and showed him her favourite books. He asked if she wanted him to read her one and she nodded.

They sat at the bed, and he read to her the story of a little dog that didn’t like sharing his toys, so he didn’t have any friends. But one day he met a cat that didn’t have any toys and he decided to give one of his to her and they became the bestest of friends and the dog learnt how to share. The book had beautiful drawings and looked like it had been read many times.

“You really like this book, don’t you?”

“yes! But my favourite stories are Uncle Al’s stories.” the little girl had a way of pronouncing the s like a z that was beyond adorable.

“oh, what stories does he tell you?”

“About him and daddy when they were kids like me. And about mommy too! And auntie Riza and sometimes you!”

Roy felt a little jab on his heart when he heard her name being called like that. He had gotten more used to it with time, but it still made him feel…well, many contradictory feelings. Happiness and sadness at the same time. Hopefulness and nostalgia. He pushed it all back down and told her

“You know, auntie Riza always tells stories too. But about you! About how big you’re getting, and how smart and nice you are. I can’t come often because I’m always working so she keeps me on the loop about you and your brother.”

“So that you won’t miss us so much?” another bittersweet little jab on his heart, this one more on the sweet side because of the way she was smiling at him.

“I… yeah, that’s it. So I won’t miss you all so much.” It was a little hard to admit but it was true. Riza had begun telling him, and the entire office really, about the Elric family shenanigans (specially the children’s) since little Trisha’s last birthday, the first time he had properly met the kids and when he found out Riza had a relationship with them. She was their auntie. He had realised just how much was happening that he wasn’t a part of. Not a nice thing to think of.

The girl suddenly got up from the bed and stuck her head out the bedroom, to then close the door and whisper to him

“I have something to tell you.” She was wearing a serious face, or as serious as a 4-year-old can get when she’s never had a worry in her life.

Roy decided to play along, which was what he had been doing all day really, and asked

“What is it” in a whisper as well.

“You can marry auntie Riza.”

Roy’s mind went blank.

Now he was actually serious when he responded

“What?”

“Is ok, you can do it”

Roy didn’t know what to answer. His mind was racing, why was she saying this? Had someone said something to her? Riza would have never… her parents?

He knew that he should deny it and then find out where she had gotten that information from but he couldn’t bring himself to do the first one. The look on her face was of pure kindness.

“Why are you telling me this Trish? Did you hear someone say something or...?”

The girl seemed unsure about what to say, and a little embarrassed. She stayed quiet for a bit and he decided not to push her

“Can you keep a secret?” she finally asked.

“Of course, always. I’m really good at keeping secrets.”

“Well… I heard mom and dad and Uncle Al talking the other day after dinner about you and auntie Riza. I was supposed to be asleep but I couldn’t so I went to the stairs and then I heard them say you couldn’t marry ‘cause they didn’t let you.” She said all of this in a rush and looked at Roy to see if she was in trouble for eavesdropping when she was supposed to be asleep. When Roy said nothing she continued, more sure of herself “So I wanted to tell you is ok! My daddy taught me that if you want something real bad and fight for it you can have it! Even if they tell you you can’t”

Roy went silent. He didn’t know what to say. The look on her face was really hopefull and he felt like his heart had been harpooned more than jabbed. She was just being a sweet, generous, loving kid. But he couldn’t have a kid going around saying things like that, not even if she lived in the countryside away from the city. So he finally decided to explain to her that they were just co-workers and friends. Which was true enough. He wanted to evoid lying to her if possible. He couldn’t bear to. But when he opened his mouth to speak, what came out of it was:

“You’re right. And we will, someday.” Every word hurt but he knew he was being sincere. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t lie to her… he couldn’t lie to himself either “but for now, we have to keep it a secret ok? Can you do that for me? Keep it a secret?”

“yes!” she said, nodding vehemently. Then she went still, doubt all over her face “Even from mommy and daddy?”

Roy laughed a little, it was hard not to, she was just so sweet.

“No, not from them. They already know. Clearly. But no one else can okay? Do you promise?” This was reckless and stupid, but it was what he was doing nonetheless.

“Yes!” she nodded again.

“Okay.” He said, as satisfied about her answer as he could be. He couldn’t help but to add “And don’t worry about us. We’ll find a way.” And he meant it with every fiber of his being. “Let’s go back downstairs now, okay?”

They walked down the stairs holding hands, and Roy managed to pick himself up before they got to the kitchen were Al and the boy were playing and WInry and Ed were quietly talking, the afternoon sun peaking trhough the window.

Roy spent the rest of the afternoon talking with the adults while the kids played outside.

When it began to get dark, he got up and said

“Well, I should be leaving if I want to catch the last train home. But I had a really great time. And I’ll see you again the little one’s birthday in two weeks, right?”

“Yes! Everyone’s coming! I already sent the invites and we got a lot of positive RSVPs. Riza’s coming too right? She didn’t respond now that I think of it” said Al, while they were walking to the door.

“yes! We’ve already arranged to come all together that day, you know, with the rest of the crew.”

“Oh, that’s great! She had told me she wasn’t sure because she was scheduled to work that Sunday. “ said Winry, before adding with a smile “Trisha would have been so sad; she loves her Auntie Riza.”

“Oh, yeah, I just moved that to today so that she could come. She also loves spending time with the kids, she talks about them often.”

“And she’s really good with them too! I bet she’s gonna make a great mother someday.” Said Ed, smiling. Winry near tackled him and shot him a look that clearly said shut up. Al tried to cover it up by saying

“What did Trisha wanted to tell you afterall?” Roy decided to ignore Ed’s comment, though this wasn’t easy to answer either.

“oh, nothing, just that she wanted me to come to her birthday.” He lied, knowing it probably wasn’t the best idea, since she would most likely tell them about their little chat anyways. He just really didn’t want to have this conversation right now. 

“Anyways, I assured her I would and that was it. Gotta run, but thanks for the invite, and the pie, it was delicious! I had a great time. See you all in a couple weeks!”

“Come any time you want!” said Winry and they all kissed, and Roy was finally able to escape, taking a deep breath once he got out of the house.

From the second the door closed he heard Ed shouting “ow!” And Winry telling him how could he be so oblivious and insensitive to say something like that.

Roy tried to smile; it was a funny situation after all. But he was only able to make the corners of his mouth curl up a bit before they went back to flat. He started walking.

He walked back to the station feeling… lots of things. But by the time he got seated, and the train was moving, they had all melted into a big, giant, ball of anguish in the pit of his stomach.

He didn’t want to feel this way. He had truly had a great time visiting the Elric’s, an afternoon filled with light-hearted conversation and laughter. He didn’t regret coming to see them at all. But It was just so hard. To see them in their home, knowing this was their every day. The exact thing he couldn’t have. The day to day happiness, comfort and shared moments.

He often thought that he had enough. He would say that to himself every day. This is enough. It had to be.

He knew that given the circumstances; he had been lucky. He had someone by his side. And while it was true that they might not be able to do the traditional things other people did… that didn’t make what they had less precious.

And most days, he was able to convince himself that it was true. Most days, he was content with it. They had more important things to achieve. He knew this. Maybe someday they would be able to think about themselves. But in the meantime, they got to see each other every day. They did almost everything together. With the extra hours in the office, he could almost talk himself into thinking that he wasn’t missing out on anything. They shared a life just like Ed and Winry did.

But that was a lie and he knew it. When they left the office, they each went their separate ways and whatever they did in their civilian’s clothes, it was often something they couldn’t even talk to each other about. Just like that stupid dog incident years ago. It made sense that they didn’t talk about all of that. If he was being honest, it would have probably make it harder.

But he longed for it. To cook for her. Walk her dog with her and help her clean the apartment and make the bed. And then undo the bed and then start again. To see her get dressed. And yes, just like Winry had probably explained to Ed right after he left, he longed to be a parent. With her. To be able to invite people to the birthday parties of their children. He wanted it so badly that he could almost hear his stone set resolution to give his life for the country, to make some good for all the bad he had done, to set the stage of his own doom, he could almost hear it crack.

Funny enough, the reason it never did, it was her. The same way she was the reason he felt like throwing all their plans through the window right now, just give up the military and this awfull corrupt country and go live a peaceful life in a nice little house on a freaking prairie, she was the reason he didn’t. She had also given her life to the cause and he couldn’t disrespect her by throwing all that away because he wasn’t strong enough. It was the least he could do to try and match her in strength.

So, he clenched his teeth, and tried to hold back the sadness that was overflowing him, while looking out the window into the dark night sky. He couldn’t see much further than what the lights coming out of the train showed him, which felt like a sad metaphor of his current mood. One rebellious tear escaped his control and he didn’t move to clean it because he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

He thought back to the evening he had just spent. Of the photo of Riza with the two kids, next to the pictures of the rest of the family, in the centre of the living room. He thought about what he had said to little Trisha and how good he had felt finally admitting that when it was all said and done, he would fight to find a way to give them a second chance. He would make it happen.

Come to think of it, it was ok to be sad for a bit. He wasn’t crying alone in a train wagon that was taking him to an empty apartment because he had given up. He was crying because he hadn’t, and it was hard. But he would make sure that one day they could have all of it.

He promised.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Hope you liked it!  
> I don't know why I felt the need to write this, but I did. I tell myself I’ll stop writing them sad stories but it's so hard! Will try my best to write something more light-hearted next time, mostly for my own sake, so I don't just keep breaking my heart over and over.  
> Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH Millie_Jean for being the best beta ever!!!! luv u so freaking much. 
> 
> If you liked this and maybe would like to leave kudos and a kind comment, (and even maybe check out the other works of this series) I would really appreciate it!


End file.
